Sunchasers
Sunchasers, Sågika (Sotzatu: "Our People"), or Silalus (Tai'ora: "Sun-Walkers") are the primary ethnic group residing in the Pearlknife Mountains. Although extremely isolated, the Sunchaser tribes are well-known across Atheryin for their extremely important role in the creation myth. Origin Where the Sunchasers are from is uncertain, as they are shown to exist in the Pearlknife Mountains very shortly after creation. However, the timeline of Creation and the Kudes Era's earliest years is scrambled, and many scholars have deduced that most events involving the Sunchasers happened much later than believed. Though, this form of the timeline would leave early Kyros without a sun or moon, which most doubt as being possible, considering the emergence of some great world powers very early in the world's history. There are some factions of scholars who believe the Sunchasers found their origins as a separate sect of the Fínnan, arriving by some other means around the same time, but on the shores of Lyria or Ebon Glade, instead of Hithfaerthel, like the Fínnan themselves. This would leave the Sunchasers to be a separate race of men entirely, though, which to some is a farfetched and outlandish concept. 'Native Story' The Sunchasers themselves attribute their creation to Tximis (Carthrist equivalent of Akrus), when he carved the first man (Ator) from the glaciers of Mendika, and to Leku (equivalent to Kaias), when she formed the first woman (Kepa) from the grace of the ocean waves. The two married, and built their home in the icy valley of Izotek. One day, a band of weary men and women emerged from a cave in the mountains, finding refuge at the Ator and Kepa's home. They said they were children of Tximis, sent to this place to build a great civilization under Ator and Kepa's command. The two were flattered, and began doing Tximis' work, building the small village of Izotekan. The Sunchasers still reside here, and it is their only known permanent settlement. The full myth of the Sunchasers' creation can be found on the Carthrism page. Culture Although so little contact with the Sunchasers is made, and even less history is recorded, their culture is hypothesized to originate from the Lehego, Iraun, and Ipurak groups (names given to the original three groups of men mentioned in the native creation myth), whose slightly differing ethnic backgrounds combined to create a conglomerated form. Very little, of course, is known about the original groups themselves, but the modern culture they created has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years, due to a large lack of outside influence on their society. 'Religion' Main article: Carthrism '' The Sunchasers are the only people to observe and worship Carthrism, and they are the founders of the religion as well. Almost all Sunchaser people adhere to the belief system, and those who don't often leave the Pearlknife Mountains for fear of persecution by their own people. In more recent years, particularly the late Red Era and early Enlightened Era, many Sunchasers were known to have split from Carthrism because of the religion's overreach into daily life, and left to become monks within ruined temples in Raven's Maw. Extremely minor religious populations of the Collective and Karophism can be found in Sunchaser tribes distant from Izotek, but often these religions only appear for a short time, before nonbelievers are weeded out and either banished or executed for heresy. This is one reason why Carthrism has survived for as long as it has—because its followers are overzealously devout. 'Celebrations & Holidays' Sunchasers celebrate the festival of ''Uda Aldi (Spring Dawn) on Planter's Moon 1, in honor of the changing of the seasons, and the coming melt of Izotek's heavy snowfall. It's the culture's biggest celebration of the year, when spring passes through the land and shrugs off wintry beauty for a warmer, greener summer. In contrast, the festival of Laixo Aldi (Autumn Dawn) celebrates the beauty and challenge that ensues with the coming autumn and winter months. Instead of viewing these times negatively, the Sunchasers enjoy the unique beauty and challenge that comes with the colder, more brutal weather. The two festivals are the largest, most enthusiastically celebrated of all Sunchaser holidays. The New Year (Hårik) is a particularly revered time for the Sunchasers, as it marks the birth of Ator and Kepa, the two creators of their society. It also is the only suitable benchmark for the creation of the world, and thus tends to become a general celebration of transition and creation of something new from the old. The holiday is typically celebrated by small gatherings of close friends and family, feasts, and sharing stories over a fire while drinking ale, ice wine, or potato vodka. Most Sunchasers are required by cultural expectations to pray and give thanks in their own homes as well, or attend the local church for a sermon or community prayer. 'Cuisine' Despite their relatively desolate surroundings, Sunchasers manage to survive in their home climate by ancient, perfected traditions of hunting, trapping, and even farming foods. A typical meal in a Sunchaser home consists of any kind of cooked venison, elk, moose, or, in autumn and winter months, beef and goat. The meat is often accompanied by potatoes, broccoli, or cabbage, with common drink being goat's milk or cow milk, water, or ale, vodka, or ice wine. Sunchasers living close to rivers (or willing to travel to rivers) often bring back a heavy load of salmon and trout—so much so, that a single fishing expedition could last half the year. History